Sailor Moon Forum

Hey, everyone, since I'm new to the Sailor Moon franchise, I thought it would be fun to record my journey episode-by-episode on the forums for fun and future reference, as well as somewhat of an "episode guide", considering I will also be writing a synopsis on each episode as I go along. Feel free to tag along if you want. That would be better for me, as that would help answer questions I have, further discussion, etc., etc. New posts will be made as I see more episodes. So, let's begin:

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Episode One: "Craybaby Usagi's Magnificent Transformation"



First off, before saying anything else regarding the actual content of the episode, I love the opening theme, Moonlight Legend. Now, from what I've concluded, it has really nothing to do with the series by what I've seen so far (though I could be totally wrong; this is only the first episode I've seen) but overall, the animation for the opening is pretty good, and I liked towards the end how they made use of the three drum-beats in the chorus.
Though what confuses me is the end where the credits say "Toei Agency" under "TV Asahi" and above the simple "Toei" logo. Being a Dragon Ball fanatic, on the final opening credits on that anime it simply says "Fuji TV" and below it says "Toei". I've never seen this "Toei Agency" thing, nor have I ever heard of it, and it confuses me. Not a big deal, but aside from Toei and Toei Animation, there's Toei Agency as well? How odd. I compare it to DBZ because they both aired around the same time.



And here on DBZ it does not have the "Toei Agency" thing:



Now that I've gotten that out of the way, time to begin the series!

Synopsis on First Half:

Episode One starts out with Usagi describing herself (age, grade, personality etc.). It being a school day, Usagi's mother calls her daughter to wake up, but Usagi doesn't listen until she realizes she will be late to school. Usagi criticizes her mother for not waking her up earlier, her mother responding Usagi didn't listen to her many tries to wake her up. Usagi then rushes to school, running into a group of children mistreating a stray kitten. Usagi chases them off and notices the stray kitten has a band-aid over its forehead. She takes it off and there is a "crescent-shaped bald spot" where the band-aid was placed. The kitten then jumped out of Usagi's arms and began to stare at her in a strange way until Usagi noticed she had no time for this and ran off to school. She ended up being late and had to stand along the wall outside the classroom. Her teacher steps outside the clasroom and shows Usagi her most recent English test results, which ended up being a thirty-percent. At this, Usagi is devastated and later her best friend Naru asks why she tried to eat her lunch early considering she was a girl. To this Usagi responds she is a "growing girl". Then Umino, Usagi's classmate, tries to console Usagi by saying that he didn't try on his test and therefore didn't get a perfect score, which was a ninety-five percent. Naru changes the subject entirely by asking Usagi if she heard that Sailor V appeared again, saying that she caught the jewelry robbers. Usagi, not knowing who Sailor V is, is impressed regardless, and Umino explains who Sailor V is: the heroine in sailor-fuku who is rumored to be a special agent working for the police department. Naru and Usagi go back to the subject of the jewelry thieves' intentions and say that because gems are so beautiful, they understand why people would steal them. Naru then mentions her mother's jewelry store is having a massive sale and Usagi agrees to go with her to look around.
In a mysterious type of setting, a woman, Queen Beryl, asks if her subjects have obtained the silver crystal, and if they could not, they must attain energy from humans to give to their ruler. A man named Jadeite, one of Queen Beryl's servants, will take on the duty of obtaining the humans' energy, and explains that the youma Morga is already gathering energy.
At the jewelry store, Usagi and Naru get a great deal from Naru's mother (who is in reality the youma Morga, collecting energy from the people wearing the jewelry) on a diamond usually going for 50,000 yen. Because Usagi is Naru's friend, she gets a 20,000 yen discount on the diamond. Regardless, Usagi cannot afford the diamond because she has used up her monthly allowance already, and because, since she failed her test, her father would not buy it for her if she asked. Usagi leaves the store, angry with herself, and throws her test backwards, accidentally hitting a passing bystander in the head. The bystander, calling Usagi a "Dumpling Head", tells Usagi to study harder after pointing out her low test score. Usagi takes the test back and leaves. The bystander looks with suspicion at the jewelry store.
Usagi stops at an arcade and notices there is already a "Sailor V" game made, and wonders how nice it would be to not have to worry about tests like Sailor V. The kitty from earlier is seen again, and as Usagi leaves, crying, it speaks, saying she has finally found Usagi Tsukino.

Opinions on First Half:

Honestly, I was not expecting Usagi to have the personality that she does. Now, I've known about Sailor Moon for a while before actually trying it out for the first time, and I've seen pictures of Usagi and the rest of the Sailors, but I was definitely not expecting Usagi to have a personality like hers. I thought she would be more serious and not as light-headed as she really is.
I kind of thought the kids' "tormenting" the kitty was kind of random, but I thought because of the crescent "bald spot" it may have had something to do with the plot. And then, obviously, it spoke and I figured it wasn't random at all.
I was honestly very confused on the Queen Beryl/Jadeite scene and what happened after so I had to re-watch that scene a couple of times to get what was going on. I also didn't really like the music in that particular scene either, but the rest of the episode has amazing music, and I think I am going to enjoy and possibly even purchase the soundtrack.
I couldn't help but notice one of my favorite seiyuu's voices, Toru Furuya (played Yamucha in the DB series as well as Seiya in Saint Seiya) as the bystander at the jewelry store.
Finally, I wasn't all that shocked when I heard the kitty speak. I kind of saw it coming, in all honesty.

Synopsis on Second Half:

Usagi returns home, and after reluctantly showing her mother her test score, is kicked out of the house because of it. After finally being let back in, Usagi takes a nap for a short while before being waken up by the slam of her window, and finds the kitty from before in her room. The kitty says the thing on its forehead is not a bald spot, to which Usagi responds "It talked". Here we find out the kitty's name, Luna (obviously a pun on the Spanish word for "moon"). She thanks Usagi for earlier, as she could not speak and her sensory powers were dulled. Usagi refuses to believe this is happening and tries to fall back asleep. The kitty gives Usagi a brooch, which pleases Usagi out of her state. Luna explains that there are weird things happening in Tokyo and there are enemies she must fight as a chosen warrior. Her mission is to "find their princesses", as Luna puts it. Luna tells Usagi to say "Moon Prism Power! Makeup!", and once she does she transforms into "Sailor Moon". She hears Naru's voice and suspects that her friend is in trouble, and runs back to the jewelry store to save Naru. Naru is being choked by the youma Morga, who seems to have been disguised as Naru's mother all along, her real mother being locked in the basement. Just then, Sailor Moon arrives and introduces herself, promising to punish Morga by the name of the moon. Morga rises each of the fallen people in the jewelry store (who have previously supplied her with energy) to attack Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon desperately tries to avoid them and breaks down in tears in the corner, and just as Morga was about to rid the world of Sailor Moon, a rose is pierced onto the floor near her. Enter Tuxedo Mask! He tells Usagi that crying won't solve anything, but Sailor Moon does the complete opposite and starts sobbing, "defeating" all the people trying to kill her under Morga's spell. Luna tells Sailor Moon to take her tiara, yell "Moon Tiara Action", and throw it at the youma. She does so, defeating the youma, and the energy collected disappears out of Jadeite's grasp. Tuxedo Mask congratulates Sailor Moon on a job-well-done and leaves.
The next day at school, everyone was talking about how they had the dream that Sailor Moon had saved them. Naru tries to talk to Usagi about it, but Usagi pleads them to be quiet so she could get more sleep, as she is tired.

Opinions on Second Half:

I thought the Sailor Moon transformation was awesome. The best part about it was the music that played along with it. My favorite piece from the series so far.
Well, obviously the reason why that bystander was looking at the jewelry store with such suspicion was because he was Tuxedo Mask. And I probably wouldn't have been able to figure that out if not for the voice.

Finally, my thoughts on the Ending theme. Overall it was kind of bland, mostly using the same animation with Usagi's silhouette in the background, but the song was nice.

Overall, this was a great start to the series! Good animation, good voice acting (I love Usagi's voice, and Tuxedo Mask's, obviously), amazing musical score, and awesome idea for the main story! I can't wait to watch more!

I just wanted to say that I love your user name and your icon!

In regards to animation, don't hold too much against it. The first episode dates from 1992. Compare it to other delightful early 1990s anime and you'll see that Sailor Moon's first season animation was pretty par for the course. If you've seen a lot of modern stuff, it's easy to complain...but, back in 1992, everything was done on cels, hand drawn and hand painted. Each frame was individually created. It's not like modern anime titles that are, with the exception of Sazae-san, all done on computers.

Yeah, Usagi's beginning personality is annoying. But it serves as a starting point. When you compare Episode 1 Usagi to Episode 200 Usagi, you should notice a difference. And while most of these changes are beneficial, Usagi does develop some traits that illustrate her lost innocence.

Thank you!


Well, comparing the animation to Dragon Ball's, Toei did a much better job with Sailor Moon, judging by the first episode. Dating back to 1986 when DB started its run, the animation has always been pretty bad, and if any anime is licensed by Toei it gives me a really bad first impression since they are so cheap and lazy nowadays. Though, animation quality always differs because there are so many different companies doing in-betweens episode after episode. That's one of the main problems I have with anime in general. Most of the time the manga looks so much better, because, well... the manga-ka doesn't draw each frame for the anime. And, plus, different character developers, etc. Luckily Sailor Moon is having a much better treatment animation-wise than a lot of Toei's other anime did. From what I've seen from the first episode the animation was very good by Toei standards so I'm having high-hopes for this.
And, preferably, I would have cel-animation over digital animation any day.

very instersting writing ^^ I'm sure you'll love the show ^^

Well, I like the fact the Dragon Ball animators were as consistent as possible with the Toriyama-style as they were through out Dragon Ball, Z, and GT. Every Sailor Moon animator had a unique style, and it made the series look sloppy.

So Dragon Ball had bad animation in general, and Sailor Moon had inconsistent animation styles. There's always an animation flaw with Toei, it seems. Not hating on them, just saying that they could have done better with their stuff.

Well, the majority of episodes tend to be filler, where they hire the lowest bidder to work on them. The episodes of high plot importance tend to have the best animation quality, and this is true for both Sailor Moon and DBZ

The theme song has a LOT to do with the series. Not sure what your spoiler policy is, but there are connections that are only apparent after you know more about the show.

I was actually referring to the lyrics of the actual song, not so much the animation that goes along with it. But, then again, I could be wrong on that too, considering I just started.


Well, there is one exception considering DBZ that I can think of at the top of my head.


(Episode 156: On Your Knees, Cell! I am Super Vegeta)
This was a pretty big point in the story. And the animation for this scene was so bad. The episode in general was badly animated, but this scene stands out.
And now back to the topic.

As I was reading your synopses, I could not help but hear the episode's BGM playing in the back of my mind. Well done, sir, well done.

Though, you say you are new to Sailor Moon? How new are we talking here? Like, have you ever been exposed to any of the series before? Or, is this a completely fresh exposure, devoid of any real knowledge of the series? If so, then there may be plenty of spoilers abound on this forum.

Also, juding form your images, I'd say you're using the SMC subbed releases, yes? And those look to be the FUNi Dragon Box DVD sets too, right? Both excellent choices, my friend.

Though, for the first few episodes, SMC subbed "Senshi" as "Warrior". Later episodes have the subtitles corrected to say the official term of "Soldier", which, IMO, gives a much better and cooler connotation.

Yes, I was referring to the lyrics, as well. =P

It's kind of a mixture of both. I didn't watch the DiC dub nor did I retain any knowledge of the series, its characters, or its plot. I actually started getting interested when a friend of mine started taking about how much she loves it, and, well, curiosity got the best of me, but it was beneficial in this case. And I try to avoid spoilers the best I possibly can, so hopefully won't have a problem with that.


Yeah, these are the SMC subbed releases. I would buy the series, but first of all I don't want to deal with crappy audio for two series (points to DB) and they're much too expensive nowadays. Even the Sailor Moon S/SuperS Pioneer box sets go for about $200 each on Amazon. And of course the R2s are expensive as they are. I hate downloading fansubs, but this is the best choice for now. Maybe I'll put them on a disc so I can watch them on my PS3.
And, yes, those are the Dragon Box DVDs. They are the only American releases with Japanese credits on the opening. The older DVDs didn't even use the correct opening. But FUNimation redeemed themselves with the Blu-rays. Even though they look stunning, I'm sticking with my Dragon Boxes considering they were discontinued and now considered rare.


Oh, well, then I guess I'll find out the connection as I go along.

Well, then prepare yourself, as there's a LOT of ground to cover in this series.

I myself blew through the series dub, sub, manga, and PGSM for the first time all during the Summer of 2009.

Yeah, the SMC subs are currently the best option right now. Though, they're not yet done with SuperS.

And, I wouldn't bother trying to put them on a disk, since that may require more work than necessary and could affect the overall quality of the file. It's best to save them to a hard drive.

Same here. No need for Blu-Ray when got these. Though, the audio's kinda lacking because it's in Mono instead of Stereo. As far as I can tell, that's how anime is in Japan: Mono.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Episode Two: "Punish Them! The House of Fortune is the Youma's Mansion"



Synopsis on First Half:

The episode opens up with Usagi explaining her personality and how Luna appeared to her.
A group of girls are seen getting their fortunes read by an elderly man next to a bakery. Standing in line is Jadeite himself, and leaves once two more women join the line.
Queen Beryl tells her servants to hurry getting the silver crystal, for their ruler is waiting for a lot of energy. Jadeite appears and informs Queen Beryl that another plan to take human energy has gone underway.
Usagi's alarm clock is ringing away while Usagi still remains in bed. Luna too orders her to wake up, but Usagi doesn't listen. Luna jumps on Usagi, finally getting her out of bed and shocked by the time. She whines about why Luna didn't wake her up earlier, and leaves for school.
Once there, Usagi ends up being late, and as the teacher is taking role-call, she tries to sneak in to class. Umino ruins it by loudly greeting Usagi. She is then ordered to stand in the hallway. Umino, for some reason, is standing right next to her, and blushes when Usagi asked why he was out there.
Umino asks Naru for a private conversation. Umino explains that he wants to take Usagi out on a date. He also says that he wishes to trade diaries, and talk to her parents about the future. Naru blatantly tells Umino that it will never happen and laughs it out. She explains that it won't work if you straight-up ask, and tells him he should see a fortune teller to find out what he should do. She tells him there is a new fortune teller house in Juubangai that just opened, and that he should try them.
Usagi runs into the elderly fortune teller from the beginning of the episode and asks where the usual long line is. The fortune teller explains that there is a new rival and points down the street, where the Fortune House Naru told Umino about was. Instead of going to the new Fortune House like everyone else had, Usagi asks the old fortune teller to read her fortune. He tells Usagi that there is currently a man who likes her, who she sees all the time.
Umino is seen walking into the new Fortune House.
Usagi suspects it might be Motoki, the guy who works at the Game Center arcade. She goes there and meets up with him, and he informs Usagi that the Sailor V game had just arrived and invites her to play, as she hasn't yet. Usagi does so and is killed by a dinosaur. Motoki admits that the game is difficult. Motoki shows Usagi how to better play the game, and Usagi has a "doki-doki" moment of happiness and nervousness. She is distracted by Luna's sudden presence. Luna urges Usagi to leave the arcade. Luna asks it was okay for Usagi to stop somewhere on her way home from school, to which Usagi replies it is not. Regardless, Usagi says she must return to the old fortune teller's so she can find out more about Motoki.
Once there, she finds the old man had already left, and says she musn't go to the new Fortune House. She must wait for the old man to return. She flips her shoe to see which one she would go to: right-side-up being the old man and upside-down being the Fortune House. She launches her shoe in the air, hitting the same bystander from last time in the head. He steals Usagi of her good mood by saying she will never get a boyfriend if she doesn't act more lady-like, and leaves.
Inside the Fortune House, Umino is getting his fortune read. The fortune teller tells Umino to look into her eyes and says he is a wonderful servant of evil. She tells him he will do whatever he desires, and Umino repeats the phrase, as if being brainwashed. A card floats inside Umino's shirt, covering his heart. The fortune teller then says that soon she will be able to obtain energy.

Opinions on First Half:

At the start I knew the new Fortune House would be a bad thing. Considering Jadeite was there in line for the old fortune teller at the start, and how he told Queen Beryl that he had another plan already taken care of, it kind of gave it away.
I think Naru was a little harsh with Umino in regards to his wish to go on a date with Usagi, but I think it became better when she told Umino about the Fortune House. Speaking of that, for these first two episodes, Naru was the one who (unintentionally, of course) led someone to Queen Beryl and Jadeite's grasp. She's bad luck so far.
I find Usagi's crush on Motoki to be both "huh" and cute at the same time. The cute factor mostly when Motoki said he felt happy whenever he saw Usagi's face. That was an "aww" moment right there.
When Usagi was contemplating to enter the Fortune House I was like "NOO, USAGI, IT'S A TRAP!"
Finally, I was confused about what had happened to Umino at the Fortune House. Re-watching the scene was all I needed.

Synopsis on Second Half:

Usagi runs into her father on her way home. Her father is shopping for her mother. He says it is the least he can do for leaving all the housework up to Usagi's mother. This makes Usagi compare Motoki to her father and wonders if he will be like her father. Her father asks about Luna and Usagi says she is her friend. To this he replies "you have some strange friends".
The next day at school Umino is seen in a suit and courageously asks Usagi on a date. The teacher scolds Umino about his clothes. Umino, not giving a crap, flips the teacher's skirt and walks away, laughing.
In class Umino is laughing loudly at a manga he is reading. The teacher, angry, walks up to him, but is tripped by another student, Yuuji, who also has a card covering his heart.
Usagi and Naru discuss that Umino and Yuuji both went to the Fortune House when they see them and more boys throwing rocks at a classroom window. They are all seen with cards covering their hearts.
The fortune teller is seen outside of the school gates and urges the boys to make more trouble, as she will keep getting energy. Jadeite also makes a small appearance holding the collected energy.
Usagi and Naru go to confront Umino, when he grabs Usagi by the hand, about to kiss her. Usagi starts crying, making the group of troublemakers leave. Luna is seen in the bushes, saying she feels evil energy from the troublemakers. She meets up with Usagi after school and informs her that there is something evil causing these incidents. She tells Umino that they are likely being controlled. Usagi suspects that the Fortune House is behind all of this.
Once they arrive, Luna orders Usagi to transform into Sailor Moon. Usagi reluctantly accepts but forgets what to say. Luna reminds her, and she transforms.
Inside the Fortune House, the fortune teller congratulates the troublemaking group of boys and says she will have them cause havoc in town next. Sailor Moon does her "In the name of the moon, I will punish you!" speech. A fight ensues, Sailor Moon nearly being hit by a few cards the fortune teller throws at her. The fortune teller reveals her true youma form and orders the group of boys to attack her. Sailor Moon, frightened, runs away from them, saying that if they get any closer they will be hurt. They don't listen and keep going, until a rose is thrown by Tuxedo Mask, which pierces the youma's face. The boys stop right in their tracks. Tuxedo Mask tells Sailor Moon to never give up and leaves. Sailor Moon dodges a few attacks and uses Moon Tiara Action, defeating the youma. The energy collected disappears from Jadeite's hand, indicating he had failed. The boys are brought out of their state and back to reality, as Sailor Moon bids farewell.
At school, Umino is shocked at what terrible deeds he had committed. He walks away, saying that "all that's left for him is misery". Usagi greets Umino, saying he shouldn't worry about what happened yesterday. Umino agrees and says he needs to be more like Usagi and how she is always fine even after failing tests. The bell rings, and Usagi hurries to class, tripping over a crack in the sidewalk, ending the episode.

Opinions on Second Half:

I found it funny how Haruna-sensei had a big smiley face right on the middle of her underwear and how she reacted, breaking down in tears saying no one will marry her.
I also find it humorous that Usagi's crying once again got her out of a bad pinch.
I can't get over the fact that the music for the transformation is so awesome.
The fight scene seemed a little meh to me (after being exposed to DBZ it's only natural) but overall I liked that Tuxedo Mask stepped in on the perfect time. However, I think Sailor Moon should get new moves. I think the one "Moon Tiara Action" move will get pretty old quickly.
I found Umino's depression slightly funny for some reason.

This was sort of a generic idea for an episode, in my opinion, but overall I enjoyed it, and I can't wait to see more.

the fighting gets better later in the season

But seriously, keep going, man. This is good stuff here.

This is awesome. It was fun to read about your first impressions of the show, especially since you had little background information beforehand. Please continue to post, and enjoy the series!

Wow quite the novel. If I were you I wouldn't read online anymore into the series if you haven't seen it before so you don't spoil anything.

I wouldn't even think about going around reading topics/posts and stuff outside the forums that could potentially spoil important info. I'm being careful, so don't worry! Sorry to be a bother because of that, by the way.

haha this is really cool! i'm enjoying reading it! ^-^ it's fun to see a new sailor moon and staring fresh!
also maybe after u finish the anime please watch the PGSM live

Thanks for the feedback.
If I ever do watch that I'll make a thread just like this for it.

As a reviewer, I am enjoying your views on the series. This is really well written and it is nice to see the series through the eyes of a first timer (hope you aren't offended by that) .

Maybe you can do the movies when the time comes .

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Episode Three: "Mysterious Sleeping Illness, Protect the Maidens' Hearts in Love"



"Otome" is not translated to "girls".

Before I get in on the synopses, let me point some stuff out.
On this episode I did notice a few annoyingly distracting marks on the film early on, but it's just a nitpicky thing so no matter:



I also noticed a lot of marks across the film on the bottom, mostly during scene changes. Are these tape marks?



Now that I've pointed out the film flaws of 1992 it's time to get started!

Synopsis on First Half:

The episode once again starts out with Usagi's description of herself and her encounter with Luna.
Queen Beryl asks Jadeite about the energy to give to their ruler. Jadeite confirms it will only take a little while longer. He states that he is working with his minion Flowa.
Usagi is sitting in her bedroom in her PJs listen to the radio. The same goes for Naru. They are listening to a man reading peoples' love letters, this particular one being sent in by their teacher, Haruna, to which Usagi denies that it could be her. A flower brooch is sent to whoever sends in a love letter to be read. Usagi whines that she wants a brooch, not listening to Luna's calls for her. In the background the announcer reveals the name of the radio show as "#10 Midnight Zero" and his own name as J-Dite. Luna still calls for Usagi as she wonders how she will write a love letter if she never has before and to whom she will be writing to. Luna snaps her back to reality by yelling her name. Luna says that Usagi should get some rest so she doesn't oversleep again. Luna reminds Usagi that she doesn't have time to listen to late-night radio because of her mission. Usagi finally accepts and goes to bed.
The next day, Usagi's father is reading a newspaper article on a disease spreading around that renders you incapable of waking up if you fall asleep. He says that it would be nice for a change, but his wife disagrees and states that she needs him to work hard.
All of a sudden Usagi yells out that she is late for school and says goodbye as soon as she greets her parents good morning.
However, Haruna-sensei has not arrived, and therefore Usagi does not get in any trouble. Umino points out that it is unusual for Haruna-sensei to be late. Moments later she steps in to the classroom, dropping books from her arms as she walked along, and ultimately tripping herself on her own two feet. Usagi notices the flower brooch in Haruna-sensei's hair. Haruna-sensei announces that in lieu of regular curriculum, the students may study whatever they desire. She states that she is very sleepy. Usagi says that it is very lucky for her that this has occurred.
Luna walks along the sidewalk by herself, complaining about Usagi's habit of not listening to her. Just then, a store opens, it being the Game Center arcade. Motoki greets Luna, and Luna worries that he might have heard her speak, which, luckily he had not. Motoki runs off to get Luna some milk, which makes Luna wish she was treated like this by Usagi. An ambulance passes by, Luna wondering what had happened.
Back at the school, Haruna-sensei, asleep, is carried off to an ambulance. She wouldn't wake up no matter what the students did, which makes Naru realize that Haruna-sensei might have that disease spreading around. Usagi claims that sleeping forever would be nice, defending her point by saying you would get to stay in your dreams forever.
At the radio station, the president receives more letters addressed to "Midnight Zero", which, the president claims, does not even exist. He wonders why they get so many responses for it. The president orders the worker who brought him the letters to throw the letters away, as a woman steps in and says she will take care of them for him.
Usagi and Naru walk along the sidewalk talking about the radio show Midnight Zero, which they both listen to. Usagi says she might write a letter to her future boyfriend, running right into that bystander. He laughs at Usagi for not facing him while apologizing, saying that it is good to "apologize to the telephone pole", which she was facing. He says that the warm weather may be affecting her head. Naru says he is gorgeous, to which Usagi disagrees whole-heartedly.
Back home, Usagi is determined to write her love letter. Luna digresses and says that a love letter doesn't mean much if you don't give it to the person yourself. Usagi doesn't listen and tries to think of something to write, but fails in the process. She decides she will ask J-Dite himself on how she can write the letter.
At the radio station, a security guard informs Usagi that Midnight Zero doesn't exist and asks her to return home.
Usagi does return home and stares at the clock intently, waiting for the scheduled time of Midnight Zero. The radio show does indeed start up and gets underway. Luna looks at the radio schedule and states that a different show is scheduled for this time.
At the radio station, in an eerie mood, J-Dite, none other than Jadeite, is reading Naru's love letter, smirking as he holds a flower brooch in his hand.

Opinions on First Half:

I love the idea of this episode. It seems unique, and the plan to steal the energy is very clever. Wouldn't it be nice to have a radio station like that? I'm not gonna lie, I'm very shy about love letters and stuff like that, so a radio station in reality dedicated to that would be a huge load off my back.
I chuckled at Jadeite's fail of a cover name. J-Dite really gave it away.
Luna's reaction to Motoki's kindness was cute:



I might even make it into an avatar some time.
The fact that Midnight Zero didn't exist according to the radio station staff made it more mysterious and eerie. I liked that.

Synopsis on Second Half:

Back at school, Naru gets her flower brooch which arrived that morning. Usagi notices that it looks exactly like Haruna-sensei's. Naru pins it on her collar and immediately the brooch starts collecting Naru's energy, making Naru sleepy. Naru falls asleep. Trying to snap her out of it, Usagi gets too close to the brooch and it takes some of her energy as well. Usagi falls asleep as well, dreaming that she is flying slowly in the moonlit sky. She notices Tuxedo Mask floating near her. Usagi realizes that Tuxedo Mask must be her future boyfriend. She asks him to show her his face. As he obliges and begins to take his mask off, Luna snaps Usagi out of it. Luna suspects there must be something occurring at the radio station.
Jadeite is holding a rather large ball of energy collected from people with the flower brooches. He states he never knew that young women with dreams of love would have so much energy. He explains that the flower brooches continue to collect energy even after the girls are put to sleep by absorbing their dreams of love. It is almost time, once again, for Midnight Zero.
At the radio station, Usagi tries to sneak in but notices the guard sitting at his desk. Luna says it is not a problem and gives Usagi a pen that allows her to disguise herself and change into any person she wants. Luna explains to yell "Moon Power" and state who she wants to transform into. Usagi uses the pen and changes herself into a "beautiful newscaster".
Jadeite begins the Midnight Zero show as Usagi looks through a circular window in the door. Luna notices that he's taken over the regularly scheduled program for Midnight Zero. Usagi steps in the room and takes over the show, posing as an emergency news flash announcer. She explains to the audience that the flower brooches sent from the show are deemed to be very dangerous and warns them not to touch them if they get sent to them. Usagi re-uses Luna's words and tells the audience that a love letter means nothing if they don't give it to the person themselves. Luna notices and complains that Usagi stole her line. The woman, really the youma Flowa, breaks through the window, and Usagi and Luna attempt to escape her grasp. Luna informs Usagi that she must transform, and Usagi does so, transforming into Sailor Moon. She uses her usual "punishing" speech. Jadeite realizes that Sailor Moon is the one interfering with their plans. He introduces himself as Flowa charges in on Luna and Sailor Moon. They are able to make it to the roof-top, but Flowa does so as well. Desperately dodging Flowa's attacks, Sailor Moon accidentally runs up to Flowa, nearly slashed by her nails. Sailor Moon uses Moon Tiara Action by order of Luna, which, at first, completely misses Flowa. Sailor Moon, however, is able to move the tiara at will, catching Flowa off guard, winning Sailor Moon the battle. Sailor Moon challenges Jadeite to a fight, but her Moon Tiara Action is stopped in mid-air by Jadeite. Sailor Moon tries a new approach: melee. As she charges toward Jadeite with a kick, he knocks her back without even having to lay a hand on her. Jadeite slowly makes his way toward Sailor Moon, when a rose pierces the roof right in front of him, stopping him right in his tracks. Jadeite disappears into a black hole. Tuxedo Mask bids Sailor Moon farewell as he always does.
Haruna-sensei finally wakes up, as do the radio staff who got their show taken over and Naru.
At school, Usagi writes a love letter to her "dear Tuxedo Mask", getting it stolen by Naru, who is surprised she is still going on about love letters, considering Midnight Zero is over. Usagi claims she will give this love letter to that certain person herself, and pleads Naru to return the letter. Naru does not oblige and instead begins to read the letter, embarrassing Usagi. Haruna-sensei also joins in the struggle to get the love letter as she also wants to read it. The episode ends with a "NO!" from Usagi.

Opinions on Second Half:
I think the ability to disguise herself can come in handy for Usagi. I don't particularly like the transformation animation for that, but I like the idea in general.
I thought the fight in this episode was so much better than the one in the last episode. Jadeite even got to show off his powers a little, and Tuxedo Mask, once again, had the perfect timing. xD
I feel bad for Usagi because of Naru and Haruna-sensei's desire of reading her love letter.

Great idea, great execution, good animation, awesome music, awesome episode. Can't wait to see more!

Thanks! It doesn't offend me at all. Doing this for the forums is really fun, and it'll give me a chance to interact with experts of the series so that I may gain more knowledge.

And, I probably will.

Regarding the lines at the bottom of the screen, no, those aren't tape marks. I own quite a few Sailor Moon cels and they didn't use tape when filming cels. A cel with several different layers were meant to be interchanged...so, the bottom layer, might have the face, a second layer on top might have the eye layer, and a third layer might have a mouth. In this way, you could have a cut of a character speaking to the screen without needing to waste a ton of cels.

I think those issues have been addressed by SMC. If they're the same thing that SMC spoke of, then those marks are the fault of Toei's DVDs, rather than the film or the SMC files.

Though, I'm glad that you mentioned some annoying stuff, since you being a newcomer has me concerned about something. Your enthusiasm about this series has me really wanting you to get the full experience, but (like any series) there are flaws to come later. Some are annoying, some are repetitive, some feel like a chore to get through, etc. And I'm hoping that these flaws don't later inhibit your interest in seeing the whole series all the way through, warts and all. I can tell you that, while you may be enjoying it now, this show is far from perfect. But we still love it (for the most part) anyway.

So, even when things get rough (as I'm sure they will), just hang in there and don't give up. If necessary, we can be there for ya to help get you through the lower points of the series.


Also, I know this may be a little early to ask, but what's you plan for all the movies and specials? Where will they be view in relation to the anime episodes?

No anime series is perfect. DB is FAR from it, especially in North America. So is the first FMA series, which I enjoyed nonetheless. Therefore I think I can handle the tough spots. Thanks for that. Much appreciated.



I'm planning to do them by air date regarding which episodes they aired between. I'm gonna have to do research on that. Have SMC released the movies? If not I'll have to look for an alternative.

I don't quite think that would be such a good idea. It'd probably be best to just watch each movie and special after finishing each series' main episodes, and the canonicity of each is questionable at best, save for a few special cases.

An example of these special cases would be the three SuperS specials, which aired between two SuperS episodes in the correct placement. So, those three are ones that should indeed be watched between the episodes they aired around, but the rest should probably be viewed after finishing said series' episodes.

But, if you really really want to watch the movies/special between some episodes instead of after them all, then I can suggest where each would chronologically fit to be watched.

Yes. They have released all three movies and all five specials.

Are all the movies of different series? If that's the case I'll watch each series' movie and specials after finishing that particular portion of the series.